Gambling
by bookdiva
Summary: first fanfic...continuation of the 100th episode with an eventual happy ending... as cliche as that sounds. read and review please.
1. Chapter 1

He walked her to her car, made an excuse, using exhaustion to get away from her. He saw in her eyes that she sa3w through his flimsy lie, but she just accepted it, got into her car and drove away. He knew that it was her way of coping just as he knew that he could not drive home in his current state of mind.

He sighed; _I guess I should go inside…looks like Sweets' car is gone so it should be fine._

Sweets was the last person that he wanted to talk to right now. Sighing again, and wondering why he kept sighing, he climbed the steps and headed into the dark FBI headquarters. Even though the lights were off and it was completely dark outside, Booth make no move to turn on the lights. He moved through the building swiftly and silently, like only a trained sniper could. He knew this building like the back of his hand. He was doing fine…that is until he ran into someone.

As they collided, Booth steadied himself and reached out toward the other person who was falling backward. With practiced ease he grabbed the other man's arm and twisted it, pulling it to an uncomfortable position behind the man's back, and pinned him to the wall. It felt good to let the anger out, maybe a little too good. Booth felt a little guilty. The person might, after all, have a legitimate reason for being here. All guilt he might have been feeling vanished the moment words came out of the man's mouth.

"What are you…ommmf…?" Booth pushed him harder into the wall.

_Sweets!_ Booth pushed off him and grudgingly released him. Aloud he said, "Sweets."

"B-I mean Agent Booth…What are you doing?" Sweets voice was laced with surprise, relief, and a bit of underlying fear.

_Shit!_ Booth thought. "Ummm…I-I was…I mean I was just getting a, uhhh, a f-file…for B-Bones…she asked for a file and…" He trailed off, not sure where he was going with that lie or why her name left such a bitter taste in his mouth. _Dang, dang, dang…_

Booth hardened his eyes, daring Sweets to call him on his lie, daring him to broach the subject. Either Sweets was oblivious, the lack light hindered his observation skills, or Sweets had a death wish because broach the subject he did.

"And what file is that, Agent Booth?" Sweets asked. "You did not have a case today, nor any this week. Is that not why you were in my office all day today?"

_What do I say to that? I'm about out of excuses…_

Booth just mumbled "Lot of good that did anyone…"

Internally admitting defeat, Booth turned to leave. Something in his posture tipped Sweets off that something was wrong.

Sweets called out to him, "Booth, what do you mean?"

Booth stopped in his tracks; shoulders hunched, head down, and looked Sweets directly in the eye and said, "I'm never gambling again."

Booth turned and walked away from Sweets, his posture looked defeated even to a non educated observer. As Sweets watched him go, he pondered what Booth could've possible meant. Then it struck him. Booth had gambled. And he had lost.


	2. Chapter 2

He walked her to her car. He put on a smile for her benefit but she saw right through it and into his dark brown eyes, the eyes that could hide nothing from her. She looked into them and saw pain. Pain that she had caused…was causing. She wanted to speak, wanted to take all the pain away. But logically, she knew that anything she might say would just hurt him deeper, and she couldn't bear to see that. So, as usual, her logical side won out. Swallowing hard and mirroring his empty smile, she nodded at Booth and drove away. As smart as she was and as much as she knew, she just couldn't fathom why her heart was physically aching. She felt irrationally ill, so ill that she considered going to an emergency room. Until the logical side of her took over again.

_Maybe Angela will know what to do. _She thought. She fumbled around in her purse, looking for her cell phone. It wasn't there. _I must've left it at home since we didn't have a case today. Shoot! What am I going to do now? _She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she went home.

_**Well…you might as well do something useful…**_ the small, logical, annoying voice in her brain suggested. It must've been the same part that took over the driving, because when she looked up, she saw the Jeffersonian.

_Well, might as well do something useful…_ she thought, sighing. She went inside, opened her office, and sat down on the couch. Sighing, she placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, but she knew that no matter how tired she was, she wouldn't be sleeping. Not tonight.

She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed Angela's number.

_Maybe talking to her will help clear my mind so I can finally get some work done. _She thought as a ringing sound came from the other side of the line. It seemed to ring for ever before she heard Angela's voice.

"Hey!" Angela's voice said.

"Angela! I really need…" Brennan started.

"Sorry I missed your call, but if you leave your name and a message, I will get back to you." _**BEEP!!!**_

"I…uhhh…what the…?" Brennan stuttered. Quickly, though, she composed herself. "Angela, this is Dr. Brennan. I just wanted to speak to you. I assume you are, um, busy, as you did not answer. That is quite fine…I am quite fine…what I mean to say…" _**BEEP!!! **_Brennan stuttered to a stop.

_Well…THAT was rude. _She thought. As smart as she was, some aspects of technology still eluded her. She placed her phone back on its cradle and sat back down on her couch. Sighing yet again, she rose again and grabbed a box labeled "Teaching Bones".

She pulled it off the shelf and opened it up. Inside, there was a set of real bones that she used while attempting to educate pupils at her open lectures. Upon examining the bones, she realized that she hadn't cleaned them in a long time. Sighing she grabbed her cleaning kit and started to examine the bones more closely. As her eyes passed over the crack on the skull between the frontal and parietal bones, the cause of death, she realized that it was caked with dirt and dust. She grabbed a scalpel from her kit and began the tedious job of cleaning the break. For her it was mindless work and her mind started to wander. As always, it landed on her favorite, yet most painful subject. Booth.

_I'm so confused. How could Booth love me? How did this happen? How could I do this to him? I love him so much…how did he know that I love him…wait….what???!?!??! Do I even…_

"Ouch!!" she screamed, as blood trickled down her hand from a cut to her middle finger. She didn't stop to assess the damage, or to consider the consequences of her next action. She picked up the skull in her good hand and chucked it with all her might. It landed on her couch with a thud, but appeared to be undamaged. She stared at the skull on the couch in shock. She was shaken out of her state by Angela's voice.

"What in the world…?"


	3. Chapter 3

The music of the club was so loud that the ground shook with the sound waves. The lights seemed to give the area a surreal atmosphere. Angela was dancing, trying to have the time of her life, but she was failing miserably. She kept thinking of…

_No! Don't go there Angela. _She chided herself.

No longer in the mood to dance, she headed to the bar and ordered a water, not wanting to cloud her mind with alcohol again. She took out her phone to check messages and saw one missed call from…

_The Jeffersonian…? Weird, _she thought. _Maybe there's a new case…_

She dialed her voice her voice mail and heard,

"I…uhhh…what the…?" she chuckled at Brennan's confused voice. "Angela, this is Dr. Brennan. I just wanted to speak to you. I assume you are, um, busy as you did not answer. That is quite fine, I am quite fine. What I mean to say…" the voice stopped and Angela chuckled a bit at Brennan's incompetence with technology. Her amusement died down, however, as she analyzed the message.

_Why was she calling me this late at night? And from the Jeffersonian too…what could she possibly have needed. She said that she was fine, but she sure didn't sound it…and if she's at the Jeffersonian, immersing herself in her work…What was she doing today?_

Angela racked her brain, trying to remember if the case that day would've had affected Brennan that badly.

_Wait, _she thought._ We didn't have a case today. Brennan had Sweets' partner therapy with Booth…Booth!!! _She finally realized what was wrong. Something had happened at that meeting that upset her. Finally given an excuse to leave, she headed to the clubs exit, got in her car and headed to the Jeffersonian. On her way there, she stopped at her apartment and grabbed two sets of clothes.

_This might be an all nighter for the both of us…_

Locking the door behind her, she decided to call Booth and see what had happened. _A little insight going in couldn't hurt. _She thought. She dialed Booth's number. It didn't even ring. He'd turned his phone off. Booth had turned his phone off. _Booth NEVER has his phone off. _

A bad feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. Looking up, she realized that she was in the Jeffersonian parking lot, and sure enough, there was Brennan's car. Angela got out of her car and headed into the building. The light was on in Brennan's office, so she headed that way. She was just about to open Brennan's office door when she heard her scream,

"Ouch!!!"

Angela burst through the door and what she saw shocked her. Brennan, Dr. Temperance Brennan, threw a bone, a skull to be exact, against her couch. Brennan stood there, seemingly shocked. So did Angela. Finally, Angela found her voice.

"What in the world…?"


	4. Chapter 4

Sweets sat in his office. For once his hands weren't busy with paperwork or flying across his computer screen. He just sat there. Thinking.

He thought about Temperance Brennan. He thought about Seeley Booth. He thought about each one of them separately and yet couldn't help thinking of them together. He just couldn't understand why they weren't together. As a physiatrist, he knew why, but that did not mean he understood it. So many things about those two confused him.

He can see how much she loves him. He knows it as a fact, and facts are things he knows well. He also sees how she convinces herself that, by loving Booth, she would destroy him. He saw her withdraw and refuse to accept what she wanted so badly, simply because she believed that it was in Booth's best interest. She has decided that she is not good enough for him.

He sees how much he loves her. He sees it in the way he is around her; how he talks, acts, the way he looks at her. He knows Seeley Booth. Booth is not the kind to rush into something. It took him years to even admit that he loved her. That he will always love her. He watches him struggle to convince his Bones that he loves her. That no matter what he will always love her; only want her.

He knows them, probably better than they know themselves. But he will never know them better than they know each other. That is what astounds him. Booth sees her facts and Brennan sees his hope, but neither can completely accept the other's point of view. So, because of hope in Booth's case and logic in Brennan's, they avoid it. He will not push her, ever. She has decided that, logically, they have a good relationship now, why mess it up? She is certain that she would mess something up. She always did. He just wanted to convince her that nothing she could ever do would make him love her less.

Sweets sighed. He was in a sticky situation. Tomorrow would be interesting, although he already knew how it would play out. He would be here, she would be there. There would be a new case. They would be professional. She knew nothing else and he knew that's what she would expect. Sweets knew that everything would be the same. But together the one step forward they had made in their session earlier that day would turn into three backward ones. Of this, Sweets was positive. The next day, he received the surprise of his life.


End file.
